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Cabrera and Willis May Join Tigers in Eight-Player Trade

Miguel Cabrera, left, and Dontrelle Willis as Marlins last year. They were in a proposed trade with the Tigers involving six other players.Credit
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Dec. 4 — While most of the baseball world has been monitoring every detail of the Johan Santana sweepstakes, the Florida Marlins and the Detroit Tigers were operating in their own world as they worked to complete an eight-player trade.

The Marlins were poised to send third baseman Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers for center fielder Cameron Maybin, pitcher Andrew Miller and four other players. Maybin and Miller are rated as the two best young players in Detroit’s organization.

According to an executive from one of the teams who was not authorized to speak publicly because the trade was not yet official, the deal was contingent on the eight players passing physicals. An official announcement was not expected until Wednesday.

Until the details about this trade leaked, the winter meetings had revolved around what was and what was not happening with Santana. But the Tigers and the Marlins changed that tone with an exchange of two proven players for a package that could include two future stars.

By shedding Cabrera and Willis, the Marlins dealt the last two players from their 2003 World Series championship team. Cabrera, one of the best young hitters in the major leagues, batted .320 with 34 homers and 119 runs batted in last year. If Cabrera, 24, focuses on his conditioning, he could be the closest thing in baseball to Alex Rodriguez. Willis, who won 22 games two years ago, went 10-15 in 2007, with a 5.17 earned run average.

Without a new stadium to generate more revenue, the Marlins felt that they needed to trade Cabrera and Willis. Cabrera, who made $7.4 million in 2006, is eligible for arbitration and will probably make more than $10 million next season. Willis made $6.45 million last season and is also eligible for arbitration.

Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers’ general manager, held the same position with Florida when Cabrera and Willis were Marlins rookies in 2003. Now Cabrera and Willis will be reunited with Dombrowski on a team that reached the World Series in 2006, but failed to make the playoffs in 2007.

The addition of Cabrera will give the Tigers, who were third in the majors with 887 runs scored last season, a stunning lineup. The Tigers will start Curtis Granderson, Édgar Rentería, Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordóñez, Cabrera, Carlos Guillén, Iván Rodríguez, Plácido Polanco and Jacque Jones. With that lineup, the Tigers may score 1,000 runs and will give pitchers more than a thousand nightmares.

“All I know is the Tigers are a very aggressive organization and they are very astute,” said Brian Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager. “Dave Dombrowski is as good as they come.”

Maybin, who will not turn 21 until April, jumped from Class A to the major leagues last season. He made his debut at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 17 and seemed anxious while going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He batted .143 in 24 games. But Maybin’s struggles last season did not detract from his potential.

Before Maybin’s debut, Dombrowski said he was “the best young position player” he had seen in nearly three decades as an executive. Dombrowski said that a scouting report produced by Major League Baseball called Maybin a “once-in-a-lifetime player.”

Miller, a 6-foot-6 left-hander and former first-round draft choice, was 5-5 with a 5.63 E.R.A. Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said this week that Miller could be a candidate for the rotation, but added that he could also start the season at Class AAA. Still, Leyland speculated that it would be a short stay by noting that Miller, 22, was the type of pitcher who did not come along very often.

Burke Badenhop, who won 12 games at Class A and AA, and Mike Rabelo, who batted .256 in 51 games for Detroit, are two of the other players the Marlins are getting. Rabelo was extraneous because he is Detroit’s third catcher. The Detroit Free Press reported that Dallas Trahern, who won 13 games at Class AAA and Class AA, and Eulogio de la Cruz, who pitched six games for the Tigers, are the other pitchers in the deal.

The Los Angeles Angels desperately wanted Cabrera, but they could not satisfy the Marlins. Florida was interested in infielder Howie Kendrick, pitcher Ervin Santana, catcher Jeff Mathis and Nick Adenhart, the Angels’ top pitching prospect. The Marlins became satisfied when the Tigers fronted an offer with Maybin and Miller.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Cabrera and Willis Set to Join Tigers in 8-Player Trade. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe